Piratical Shortshots
by ICRepresentative
Summary: Pirates of the Caribbean drabbles and shortshots on various themes and genres. Bill, Jack the monkey, Will, Elizabeth, Jack and Barbossa. POTC1 and 2, DMC spoilers.
1. In Other Words

**Disclaimer**: POTC belongs to Disney.

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**In Other Words**

Will looked aside. Oh, what had he done? He was no better than the pirates that had captured Elizabeth

_- Elizabeth the love of his heart and his soul -_

by doing what he did. He'd done it now, sure enough. God have mercy on his soul, but he knew it had to be done or else everything would have been lost. Everything he held dear.

One for another. A sacrifice had to have been made. That's the way it had to be. To save a Swann, a Sparrow had to fall.

But the others… the pirates… would they understand?

"Hey, boy, where be Jack?"

Will looked away - he could not meet their eyes. He took Elizabeth by the arm, as though to reassure himself that the reason he did what he did was for a better prize.

A prize! No! No, no, no… he was not a pirate! He would never see her as a prize. She was his life, his love, his treasure…

_- Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate - _

Will gave the only answer he could. "He fell behind." Will hurried below, taking his girl with him.

Gibbs looked out at sea. He knew that look. The boy - Will Turner - had been unable to meet his eyes. Will had seen something terrible.

Gibbs, with a sinking heart, realised what Will had told him. A Sparrow had fallen to save a Swann. A pirate had sacrificed himself to save a damsel in distress.

Jack was dead.

"Keep to the Code." He told the crew, then looked back out at the Isla de Muerta. The Island of Death.


	2. The Monkey

**Disclaimer**: POTC isn't mine.

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"We got a stowaway, Cap'n!" 

Barbossa watched, amused, as Kohler swore and chased after a flash of black-and-white fur. The pirate's hand was bleeding. Twigg was helping his friend, but half-heartedly, as he was too busy trying not to laugh.

The monkey leapt up into the rigging, paused to hiss at the man who was pursuing him, before turning his attention to the climb. Kohler readied his pistol.

"Leave the thing alone," Barbossa said, expansively. He was feeling generous after the recent turn of events. "Stowaway or not, I'll not have a slaughter on my ship."

"_Your_ ship?" Bootstrap muttered. "Oh, aye, you won't let a slaughter on 'your' ship, Hector. Better to leave men to die…"

Barbossa pretended he didn't hear the comment. Instead, he turned his attention to the rigging. He whistled.

The monkey paused, and looked back down at Barbossa, curiously. Barbossa narrowed his eyes at it, and tilted his head, studying the creature. The monkey did the same thing appearing to be copying the captain.

No-one moved; no-one laughed. They just watched.

The monkey leapt down from the rigging, and landed on the deck in front of Barbossa. It sat one its haunches and tilted its head at Barbossa, considering him. Seeming to evaluate him.

Barbossa smirked, and held out a hand. As though offering a handshake.  
The monkey didn't move, but it narrowed its eyes, as though suspicious. It crept towards Barbossa.

The pirate continued to smile at the creature. A viper's smile, the same smile he'd showed Jack when he'd asked for the bearings of the island. The smile of a true friend - until you saw the fangs.

Barbossa could almost touch the monkey when it showed fangs of its own. It tore into Barbossa's hand, then turned and scurried away with the shredded glove in its hands. It chattered, laughing at him, as it sat on the deck, in reach and range of everyone, and tore Barbossa's glove to ribbons.

Barbossa hadn't even had time to cry out in pain. He stared at the bold little creature, a slow incredulous smile crossing his face as he massaged his hand. He grinned at his crew. "Cheeky jack, that one!" He laughed. And the crew laughed too, because the captain's jokes were always funny.

"Is that what you're calling him then?" Bootstrap said dryly.

Barbossa didn't let the man's sullen face ruin his good mood. He shrugged. "I don't know. I think 'e'd be better served up with a side salad!" More laughter from the crew.

Barbossa turned away from the hissing monkey and the dark-faced Bootstrap. Jack. Trust Bootstrap to remind him of the fool of a captain who sailed before. The man had been a fool! Handing over the bearings with a trusting smile. Smiling as the mutiny took place under his very nose. Staring in horror as his trust was betrayed. Such a fool did not deserve the Pearl, did not deserve to be captain. Did not deserve the treasure.

But Barbossa had been fair, hadn't he? Given Jack Sparrow a chance to sail under Barbossa's command? But, like the fool he was, he'd turned down that one chance.

"_Are ye sure you don't want to, Jack?"  
Silence.  
"Is that a no?"  
Hatred shone out of those dark brown eyes.  
"Pity," Barbossa shrugged._

"Ah, Jack," Barbossa shook his head sadly at the ocean, at the island they could no longer see, "If you'd showed a bit of spine, you might still be here." _With a bit of spine, you might've been a stronger man. If you showed a bit of spine, I might've made you my right-hand man…_

Movement, a flash of black-and-white fur. Barbossa looked down at the monkey, who was sitting on the railing. Watching and waiting for Barbossa's next move. Tense, like a snake coiled to spring at any moment, but swaying with the ship with an easy grace that belied its savage nature; the monkey waited.

Like the fool, when Barbossa had first met him. _With a bit of spine…_

"You have a name?" He asked it; but softly, so no-one else could hear him. He did not want to be mocked for speaking to a dumb animal.

The monkey looked sceptically at Barbossa, prepared to bare his fangs at an instant's moment.

Barbossa gave his viper's smile. "Then Jack will suit you fine."

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A/N:** I'll probably be doing more 'monkey theories' - as in, who the monkey belonged to and why they called him Jack - later. 


	3. Turtles

Disclaimer: POTC belongs to the appropriate people. As opposed to the inappropriate one.

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"Jack!" 

Jack looked up. It was Gibbs, bearing down on him with a wide grin.

"I didn't expect t' see ye back so soon, Captain! How did your compass work?"

Jack's lips twisted in a sneer; his eyes unfocused. "Worked fine enough, I suppose. But I wouldn't know. Ask Barbossa."

"Barbossa?" Gibbs frowned and sat down at the table, opposite Jack. "What's your first mate got to do with anything?"

Jack put his pistol on the table, reverently. "He left me this before he marooned me." Jack said, carelessly, hiding his wrath well. "I plan on returnin' the bullet to him when I see him next." Jack looked up at his friend. "One shot. That's all that it'll take."

The old sailor sucked in breath. "That bastard!"

Jack placed his hand on the gun, felt the stillness of the metal, sensed the power in the powder.

"He marooned you?"

Jack nodded. His head still hurt, his skin was raw from the sun. He wanted to sleep, but knew that there wouldn't be time for that. He had to find the Black Pearl. He had to find Barbossa.

"How'd you get off the island, then?"

Jack looked up, surprised at that. He hadn't expected that question. But here, back among the mundanae, the daily life of the shore-folk, they wanted a story. They wanted to hear another story of Captain Jack Sparrow's daring exploits.

Dammit.

"Jack?"

Think, think, think! How hard could it be to think up something… if only the tavern weren't so loud… Sometimes Tortuga wasn't the best place to set up kip…

Tortuga. La Tortue.

"Turtles."

"Turtles?"

"Turtles. _Sea_ turtles."

Gibbs sat back, frowning, wondering. "Sea turtles…"

Jack stared into his drink. _Ah, let him. If I know Gibbs, he'll find some way of spinning my dull escape story into a legend worth the hearing._

_For now, I've got better things to concentrate on. Like, finding Barbossa. There's only so many places he can hide. And I've got the element of surprise. One shot will be more than enough._

"Sea turtles." Gibbs mused, a storyteller's gleam coming into his eyes.


	4. Fledgling

**Disclaimer**: POTC intros are coolest in my other POTC fics.

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**Fledgling**

Jack looked down at her watching her while she slept. She was so beautiful. So perfect.

His eyes traced the curve of her body under the sheets, lingered on the hands that clenched and unclenched in dreams, drew slowly up to the perfect face. Her eyelashes fluttered in her dreams, and she gave a small contented sigh. Her cheeks were tinged with pink, and her hair was in disarray.

_Oh_, Jack smiled, reaching down the touch her, _You are so, so beautiful. You're perfect._

In sleep, she murmured, and rolled over. Her hand brushed Jack's, and, unconsciously, she grabbed hold of him and held tight. Jack couldn't stop smiling.

Her scarlet lips formed intelligible words, and pulled Jack's hand close to her. Jack stroked her hair with his free hand, then leant down to kiss that perfect face. She barely stirred; his kiss was a light touch, a cat's-paw of wind.

Jack Sparrow had known women all over the world. In every port city, there was a woman who knew how he tasted. In every city there was a woman who looked out at the sea and wished for the pirate to return to her, just once. Jack Sparrow had known them all, with their painted lips and tightly-laced bodices and their silent desperation.

There was nothing desperate about the woman sleeping before him now. She was perfect. She was beautiful. The most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life.

She slowly released her hand, rolling over. Eyelashes fluttered, fingers twitched, feet kicked. Jack smiled gently, and fixed the blanket around her, tenderly.

At the doorway, the girl's mother watched, smiling to herself, as Captain Jack Sparrow stared adoringly down into the crib which contained their child.

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**A/N**: This one is for the ppl out there who write OC fics and give Jack a daughter. XP 


	5. Crushing Black Oblivion

**Disclaimer**: POTC belongs to Disney. Odd, innit.

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_

_for a moment it is hard to tell if i was breathing or not but who needs to breathe when all there is is black and deep and pain falling falling down and down under the sea their laughter replaced by the roaring of the water in my ears and the crushing the crushing the crushing_

A dead man does not need lungs. I knew I could not feel the burn of a flame - I had seen Simbakka burn himself a few weeks into the curse- and the cut of my blade against my palm drew only blood. No pain, no sound. And the blood lost did not stop a dead man's heart from beating.

_gulp for air but there is no air only air for fishes but im not a fish not even a merman just a man a man a dead man dead man but not not not dead yet cannot breathe i feel like i should breathe _

It's the least I can do for you, Captain. I know you looked to me to stand by you. The others thought me a coward. If only there was some way of letting you know I never meant to betray you. I was afraid then, Jack - afraid that my son would grow up without ever seeing his father's face, afraid that I would never see Mary again. But after we reached the island, I realised I had not been afraid. I was afraid… that… well, I was not afraid at all. I was just waiting for the inevitable. I had simply been waiting for my chance to avenge you.

_no more faces only darkness and the sea pressing down on my lungs trying to squeeze the air out but there is no air only water a dead man needs no lungs a dead man doesnt need to breathe but it does not do a man well to laugh at davy jones not good not good at all_

I got your revenge, Captain. Barbossa will never be free of his curse. I told you I would sail to Hell and back with you, Jack. What more could a friend do? I would gladly endure this Hell, this oblivion of half-death, this purgatory… I would endure it because a mutineer deserves to burn in Hell. Except a sailor never burns. You're in your Hell, and I'm in mine.

_the crushing black dark pain and i keep falling down and down and down pulls by steel and the silence of the waves a man should be dead by now but im not a dead man i should be but im not i earned this penitence penitence please forgive me falling falling falling crushing crushing crushing cannot breathe cannot see cannot feel so much depth goes on forever and ill never reach the bottom of it ill fall forever_

Now, all that remains is an eternity in the depths of the sea.


	6. Just Like Old Times

**Disclaimer: **POTC isn't mine. Like, wow.

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Ah, yeah. This was just how it was. Flash and dazzle for the crowd, hell for the law-men, and glory for the pirate-folk. _

_No time to think, no time at all. Play it by ear, aye? Use what weapons you got handy. Here, the rope. You know what to do. Catch 'em in the gizzards. Whoops, mind your step lads! Ha ha ha._

_Ah, yeah. This brings back memories. Here comes more. Trip 'em up, keep running. Put on a show as you go. Catch some pretty lass's eye, maybe, aye?_

_More of 'em? Don't them limey bastards know when to give it a rest? Heave, HO! Ha ha. They'll feel that in the morning. You got a sword? Good man. I'll take his face. Ha ha._

_We can take 'em. We can take on the world. _

_Time to run? Think so. But with style, mind you. And you gotta keep fighting. Pirates never surrender. Not until there's a chance to find a better way out, at least._

_And we'll be pirates to the very end! We do what we do 'cause we do it so well! Take what ye can and give nothin' back! We're pirates, through and through._

_Just like old times, ey Bill?_

Jack turned, and found himself with a face full of ostrich feather.

_Oh. Not Bill. Will._ He blew the feather out of his face, leaving the memories behind, and returned to the present with a small measure of pride in his friend's son.

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A/N:** 'tis a shame that fashion sense isn't genetic. I'm sure Bootstrap Bill had much more taste than to take an Errol Flynn/musketeer look. 


	7. Otherwise Incapable

**Disclaimer:** POTC belongs to better people than I.

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**Otherwise Incapable**

That pirate had taunted him, mocked him. Will fumed silently, taking out his rage on the shapeless piece of iron in the forge, beating it into form and submission. That pirate had called him a _eunuch_.

It was bad enough that a pirate had tried to fight him - had cheated! - but to insult him! …And to have threatened Miss Swann!

"_Who makes all these?"_

Will stopped for a moment, considering. He'd taken up a sword to fight the pirate not only because the pirate happened to hide in his shop, but mostly because of Miss Swann. That pirate had threatened her, tried to kill her. And Will would have gladly killed that pirate for that fact alone. No harm would ever come to Miss Swann. Not if he had any say in it!

"_You need to find yourself a girl, mate!"_

This workshop, full of swords. He made them all, hoping that, one day, he might impress the governor with his skill. So far, all Governor Swann had noticed about the swords were that they were beautiful, and that only a master could have made them. A mere boy like Will Turner could not have made such beautiful swords. He was just… Will Turner. The blacksmith's apprentice. The shipwrecked nobody.

But Elizabeth knew. She knew him to be a hero underneath the grime of the forge and the city. She knew he loved her. But that look on her face when she bid him 'good day, Mister Turner'… she wanted a man with backbone. She didn't want a boy who would stay in his place and look up at her adoringly.

Will stared into the fire of the forge bitterly. Stare at her adoringly is all he could do. They were too different, he and her. He may love her but class and status and society kept them all apart. And she was the governor's daughter. He was… nobody.

"_Or, perhaps the reason you practice three hours a day is because you've already found one… and are otherwise incapable of wooing said strumpet."_

Will stared at the sword, seeing not only the iron's edge but his own weakness. A weakness which even a pirate - a pirate! - noticed and exploited. Will picked up the forge hammer and resumed his punishment of the metal, determined to keep his thoughts elsewhere.


	8. The Gov'ner's Daughter?

**Disclaimer**: Not making money from the Pirates, I ain't.

**A/N**: Okay, I saw the second POTC2 trailer, and I, being the Jack-slut that I am, went all indignant at Jack's flirting with Elizabeth. But after a while, I remembered a snippet/spoiler I'd read elsewhere: That Elizabeth wasn't really Gov. Swann's daughter. Apparently there was some kind of 'Star Wars' thing going on with Liz and Will... but I think that would be just insane. But anyway, the two ideas met in my mind and kept me awake, so, without further ado...

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"Elizabeth! Those clothes don't flatter you at all. It's either a dress or nothing at all. And I just happen to have no dress in my cabin." 

Elizabeth just folded her arms, refusing to be disarmed by Jack's golden smile. Jack continued to smile, likewise refusing to be disarmed by her dark glower.

"A woman of your social status should hardly be unescorted." Jack purred.

"Of my social standing?" Elizabeth allowed herself a scoff. "Your knowledge of me has certainly increased since our last meeting."

"Well, if nothing else, your lexicon certainly has. Perhaps… we could exchange barbs in a more private location…?"

"Easy, captain," Elizabeth said, a small smile playing about her lips, "I just found out I was adopted."

For a moment, Jack's smile slipped. "… What?"

Elizabeth unfolded her arms to readjust her tricorn hat, then stuck her thumbs in her belt. "Apparently I was a pirate's daughter, and dear old Governer Swann decided to adopt me, the poor orphaned lamb. Apparently my father was some no-good, rum-sculling, tar-eating, mat-climbing bilge rat. And a famous one at that." She looked over Jack's shoulder. "Oh, Will!" She ran to him, arms wide and smile mischievous. "Darling, you have no idea how glad I am to see you."

Will embraced his fiancée, then glowered suspiciously at Jack. The suspicion turned to confusion, and Will whispered to Elizabeth, "What's up with him?"

Jack just winced. "I need a stiff drink."

Elizabeth laughed softly under her breath.

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**A/N**: It's either April Fools Day, or Elizabeth wasn't kidding about being Jack's daughter :) . I have nothing to say about the Jack/Liz (nearly) kissing scene later in the trailer. I wanna see the movie before I write anything regarding THAT. But you J/E writers... go wild. 


	9. Judas Kiss

**Disclaimer**: POTC2 belongs to the awesome purple people who live under my bed. Or... not.

**A/N**: DMC spoilers. Random idea that wouldn't go away.

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I'm not sorry. 

That's what I told him, and he just smiled and seemed to accept. As though I had done what he knew I always would do.

As though he'd expected it. As though he would have been disappointed if I didn't.

I had watched him run and called him a coward. Then I'd thought him a good man when he returned to fire that last shot.

So what does this make me? When I leave behind a legacy of pain and betrayal?

A viper. A snake that leaves a kiss and a foul poison behind.

I was good once. I'm sure of that. And then this… I've become a viper. A traitor.

To Jack. My captain. And more. But _what_ more? Even my heart cannot tell. The compass spun to him and to Will so often I could never be sure. That rogue both repulsed my heart and held it, drawing me and pushing me away. But the fire on his kiss warmed me like nothing I'd ever known. And the pain and acceptance in his eyes was a twisting dagger in my heart.

To Will. My love and my life. If he were to have known what I did, I'm sure he would never forgive me. He would not be able to understand. If Will knew… it would break his heart. I would lose him. As it is, I feel I've lost him already. For now whenever I close my eyes, I don't see the face of my husband, but sad brown eyes ringed with kohl and a smile that shines pained but golden.

The crew. They believe that - finally - their captain became a good man, an honest man. They believe that he chose to go down with his beloved Pearl out of respect for them. Out of a desire to see the crew safe to shore.

But Jack is not honest; he is betrayed. By me.

Jack, Will and the crew are not all I have betrayed. In this… I have also betrayed myself.

My heart was tied fast before all this. I was sure of my course, sure of my heading and my goal. But now all is confusion. I lead one man to his death; I've let my true love be usurped; I've made a pirate look a hero.

And in all this… I've become a viper. I betrayed myself.

I gave Jack Sparrow a Judas Kiss. And I've betrayed us all.

And I am sorry.


End file.
